Watertown Daily Times, December 12, 1946
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Reprinted with Permission of the |
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THERESA WOMAN IS 90 YEARS OLD
Theresa, Dec. 12. -- Surrounded by huge bouquets of cut flowers and with a birthday cake on the table, "Mother, 90 years," to be cut for guests when they come to offer congratulations, Mrs. Frances Cole Gould celebrated her 90th birthday Tuesday at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Robert Comstock. Mrs. Gould was active, ready to tell of pioneer events in this north country as she heard them from her people, and actually in better health than a year ago. Her mind is keen, her memory clear and her zest for story telling most captivating.
She is a descendant of what were known as the "Blue-bloods of Scotland, and her great-grandfather, Mr. Gunn, settled the region at Gunns Corners. Her early school days were spent in District No. 4, town of Brownville, in the region of the "seven bridges," and near the old Baptist church that used to stand there. She recalls that it was an historical spot in early days for as a child she could see the outlines of the old stockade built where the school house was later located, to have a protection from the Indians. That this historic Baptist church, the first to be organized in Brownville, was formed in 1806, and the stone church was built in that region in 1827. This was the school where Pamelia Plumb was an early teacher of Mrs. Gould, and is where there were so many spelling contests.
An incident in her childhood remains with her, it being the Sunday her people started for horses should rest (passage as written), if they worked all the week, -- and so the family in Sunday best were on the way. They had to cross a creek, walking along a log. Mrs. Gould, as a little girl, had a heavily starched skirt and carried a fancy parasol. In tripping along the log, she slipped, went into the water, but the starched skirt held her up until her father pulled her out. In time, her parents, Mr. and Mrs. H. Cole, thought it time to build a larger farm house and it was like a hotel. It had eight fireplaces, a big dairy room, and a woodshed to hold 100 cords of wood. Later her father sold the farm and took over the hotel at Gunn's Corners. That period stands out in Mrs. Gould's mind. Great parties they had in the hotel, especially Harvest Ball. "My mother was a wonderful cook," Mrs. Gould states, "and her chicken pies, served at the ball, were famed for miles around. The neighbors would come to lend a hand and take the chickens and prepared crusts at their homes to bake. The crowds would be so large that they would prop up the floors to keep them from going down. Father never used
to smoke or drink, but he had wonderful parties. Return to Clippings Index